Glass harmonica (or 'armonica)

This is an instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin. It used pedal power. It's like running your finger around a crystal goblet with water in it. Only he cut the stems off and turned it on its side. You wet your finger and hold it along the rims for different notes as it turns. This was taken in Philadelphia at the Franklin museum.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• glass
• armonica
• harmonica
• inventions
• musical instruments
• Ben Franklin
• Benjamin Franklin

[brooksmusic]

This was taken at the Benjamin Franklin museum in Philadelphia. This guy wasn't a security guard, but a museum guide with a lot of knowledge. He actually played this for me and my party after they had closed because he knew I was a music teacher and wanted to show it to my students. Ben invented it. And you can call it harmonica or 'armonica. I chose to call it harmonica because I know that a lot of people have never even heard of it. Harmonica would be the way they would normally spell it.

[brooksmusic]

You can call it either one.

[brooksmusic]

I have no idea. google it and maybe you can find where.

[UMAMIMAMU]

An armonica playing security guard! What a renaissance man!

[UMAMIMAMU]

@falconer6439 Thank you for pointing that out! Saved me the time of doing it. How come almost every video of these things calls it a "harmonica"??

[falconer6439]

*Armonica

Not harmonica.

[HIPandiDONTmeanHOP]

@pyromonkey721 Oh great. I'm on the unoriginal part of youtube, where people say the same worn out phrases they heard someone else say, again...

[gfharper]

I thought this was called an "armonica"

[BrianaGhostGirl]

@pyromonkey721 Weird?! This is the beautiful part of youtube! You have an odd definition of what is weird...